I recently witnessed sparks coming from a grounding clamp secured to my natural gas line in my house. The grounding clamp had a short wire coming from it which lead to the another grounding clamp attached to my copper water line. I called a friend who works with gas and he told me that it is a bond and it is required... so why the sparks??? After the fireworks were over, I wiggled the wire and noticed (in a flurry of additional sparks) that the clamp was loose. I tightened the clamp and began to research bonds. Motivated by possible fire, I have learned much about bonding and grounding over the past 24 hours, however I am still unclear how to proceed.
Based on my readings, one of the possible reasons may be that the bond is no longer grounded properly. About 3 years ago we updated the electrical panel and the ground was run outside to a grounding plate. Originally the ground from the old electrical panel was attached to the water line at the point of entry. Should I put the ground back on the water line? Does it matter? Should I get someone to come in? Or has this been happening for the past 3 years and I just haven't noticed (basement is unfinished and only used for storage).
Any information or direction would be appreciated.